The water runs milky and can feel like fire. In this impoverished county, Trump’s $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan may not help

Across the steep hills and hollows of this remote Appalachian county, many do not trust what flows out of their faucets — if anything flows at all.

Sometimes they get no water. Other times just a trickle. Often, they say, their water is so discolored it resembles milk or Kool-Aid or beer.

"I haven't drunk the water in years," said Jessica Endicott, 35, general manager at Family Dollar in Warfield, a tiny town on Martin County's eastern edge. "I don't cook with it. I don't boil eggs with it. I don't even feel safe bathing in it."

Water outages and boil-water advisories have long plagued this rugged former coal mining region on the eastern tip of Kentucky, where more than half a century ago President Lyndon Johnson launched his war on poverty. Frequently, water bills here come with warnings — notifying residents the water contains high levels of disinfectant byproducts that could, over time, increase their risk of liver and kidney problems and cancer.